STYX: SHARDS OF DARKNESS
The gruesome green menace returns to rob everyone blind
Styx, titular goblin and sticky-fingered protagonist of Shards Of Darkness, is horrible. He’s all mucus and vomit, spit and farts – everything a goblin should be, I suppose. He swears, loves remarkably terrible reference humour that makes Family Guy seem cutting edge, and kills without batting a grotesque eyelid. It’s a good thing, then, that he’s such an incredible thief.
A new job from a one-time enemy thrusts Styx on a journey that promises intrigue and high stakes, but it’s really a skeletal frame upon which the game hangs, rather than a compelling yarn. It’s a great excuse for the pilferer to do a spot of travelling and make a nuisance of himself, however, by picking pockets and stabbing backs.
Eschewing the sequel trope of characters losing their abilities for half-baked reasons, Styx retains a lot of his tricks from the first game, immediately turning the sprawling environments into stealth playgrounds. Though these sandboxes might not be as elaborate or reactive as those in games such as Hitman, they are still full of challenges and special objectives that inspire exploration and experimentation.
UP STYX
Each mission is split into two big areas, all largely striking and inventive. Mucking around on a flotilla of hijacked airships is a particular highlight. The goals, and their respective obstacles, feel bespoke too, fitting their specific sandboxes instead of just being rote ‘steal object X’ tasks. Infiltrating embassies, hunting down an assassin and stealing a dark elf’s clothes from a bath house – it’s a diverse list. This quest for variety has led to a few missteps, however, including an insipid series of puzzle-based trials and a boss battle that feels entirely out of place.
Not only is Styx a sneaky acrobat, scrambling up to the rafters and hiding in the darkness, he’s able to turn invisible, vomit up clones of himself, poison enemies and lay devious traps. His suite of abilities can also be upgraded with skill points, making them even more handy. Take the aforementioned clone skill, for example, which can be upgraded so duplicates can be flung to out-of-reach places or explode near enemies. They also serve as distractions, drawing guards away from their patrol routes or into an ambush. It’s a rich toybox.
Unfortunately, many of the issues that plagued the first game return. There’s a lack of precision that can sometimes shatter the fantasy of being a master thief, and in the rare moments when combat rears its ugly head, it’s a nightmare. Enemies are capable of hunting down a hiding goblin, but otherwise their behaviour is more than a bit rough. It can be a little frustrating, but thankfully these flaws are not so insurmountable that Shards Of Darkness stops being a diverting and fun misadventure.
VERDICT
A creative stealth game that improves on its predecessor, though remains a little rough around the edges. Styx remains a deeply unpleasant character. Fraser Brown